Best PlacesNorthside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor ranks 2,547th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and car insurance costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- School gradeA, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
Where Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor ranks low
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Household income$55,752 median, better than only 22% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 26% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,752, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor's effective rate of 1.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor.
Who works in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, and how
Work in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 33%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 43%
Life in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor has more parkland per resident than 91% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, month by month
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 57° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Detroit Metro Wayne County sits about 20 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 16.3 million passengers in 2025, with 168 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Schools across Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor average an A, better than 98% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Ann Arbor Steam At Northside SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Wines Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Logan Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clague Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Tappan Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Forsythe Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Skyline High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Huron High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor
Is Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor ranks 2,547th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on heat safety, an educated workforce, and good schools, and lowest on car insurance costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $468,216. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $55,752 median income, cost of living beats 26% of neighborhoods.
Is Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor safe?
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor is safer than 43% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $542 per resident a year.
Compare Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northside Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.